Sunday, May 05, 2024

Our town …

… Paul Davis On Crime: My Crime Fiction: Officer Mack.

Seems like yesterday …

 …. Remembering the first time (it lasted 15 minutes) in 1961.

Best laid plans…

 …  Making time for the flood and eleven other subjects.

Listen in …

 …and more —  Hitting The Links: 5/5/24.

Exaggerated rhetoric …

 …  Diane Montagna Interviews Edward Feser on ‘Dignitas infinita’. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)

A poem for today …

 … . Gregerson — Slaters’ Measure

Not your usual book gathering …

… Readers Take Denver likened to 'Fyre Festival of books.

In-depth portrait …

 … Orwell's Arresting Ambiguities. (Hat tip,Dave Lull)

The fact that Orwell was not all of a piece and contained contradictions within himself is what lends depth to his work. There may be better books about Orwell than this, but if so I do not know them. 

Enjoy …

 (18) TSDK No. 49. Massive Luxury Overdose.

Precedence …

 … They’re very close to us, the dead.

A word for today …

… Précis —Daily.

Let us pray …

 … to the Little Flower —= Miraculous Invocation to St. Therese.

Something to think on …

The function of prayer is not to influence God, but rather to change the nature of the one who prays.
— Søren Kierkegaard, born on this date in 1813

Saturday, May 04, 2024

Drifting toward another world …

 … Sleep is a drug; dreams its succor.

Path between the seas …

 … Altering world trade and the Central American landscape.

Sleep and death …

… Zealotry of Guerin: Poetry and Fiction by Christopher Guerin: On a Dreamed Report of Death.

Something to think on …

Self-interest, be it enlightened, works indirectly for the public good.
— William H. Prescott, born on this date in 1796

The way things were …

… The Lamp Magazine | Contours of a Spiritual Universe. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)

The spirit that guided those wonderful old Yankees was a marvelous blend of their religious beliefs and the ethos of neighborly accommodation that pervaded the almost-lost world of small New England townships.

A word for today …

… Complaisant | Word Genius.

Let us pray …

 … to the Little. Flower — Miraculous Invocation to St. Therese.

Friday, May 03, 2024

Thursday, May 02, 2024

RIP …

…  Leading poetry critic Marjorie Perloff has died at 92: “Her passion was brilliant.”

Anarchy …

 … Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold.

Questions count as well …

 … Novelist Willa Cather’s great questions were deeper than science could answer.

Language does matter …

 (18) On Climate 'Theology' - by William F. Vallicella.

In case you wondered …

… What Do We Get Wrong About the Byzantine Empire? | History Today.

May Reviews at North of Oxford …

 … Ugh by Carl Kaucher.

… The Heavy Lifting Companion, Bookwork by Felicia Rice, Poems by Theresa Whitehill.

… Another Saturday Night in Jukebox Hell by Alan Catlin.

… Late Epistle by Anne Myles.

… Peony Vertigo by Jan Conn.

… Pillow Thoughts by Courtney Peppernell.


Let us pray …

 Lincoln's Prayer for America on This National Day of Prayer - HillFaith.

About those protestors …

… Paul Davis On Crime: Radical Student Protestors From The 1960s To Today.

The enigmatic Baker Street sleuth Inbox …

 … Laurie King’s confessions about Sherlock Holmes.

Take a look at these …

 Photographer Explores the Abstract Beauty of Iceland's Rivers. (Hat tip, Rus. Bowden.) 

Something to think on …

Poetry heals the wounds inflicted by reason.
— Novalis, born on this date in 1772

To Sleep …

 … Seal the hushed casket of my soul.

Very interesting …

 … Plato’s final hours recounted in scroll found in Vesuvius ash. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)

A poem for today …

 … Bill Knott — Lesson.

A word for today …

… Cartomancy - Word Daily.

Let us pray …

 … to the Little Flower — Miraculous Invocation to St. Therese.

Wednesday, May 01, 2024

RIP

 … “One of the most successful instrumentalists in rock history”: Duane Eddy, rock guitar pioneer, dies at 86.

Baker Street News …

 … “Well, I’ve just written a new Sherlock Holmes adventure!”

Something to think on…

We are not human beings having a spiritual experience; we are spiritual beings having a human experience.
— Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, born on this date in 1882

Today’s poem …

 … Confused about the Ivy League. (Hat tip, Dave. Lull.)

This site has no industrial crane …

 … Getting out of bed after surgery.

A word for today …

… Basilisk - Word Daily.

Let us pray …

 … to the Little Flower — Miraculous Invocation to St. Therese.

Tuesday, April 30, 2024

Monday, April 29, 2024

Quite a tale …

 (18) Notes on the Asylum Where I Was Raised.

Good question …

Go State U! Why pay a premium for a 'polarizing' degree?

Not so macho after all …

 … Generous And Reflective’: Letters Show Other Sides To Macho Ernest Hemingway.

One place to begin …

 … Explain yourself over and over.

Girl power! …

 … 17-year-old peasant leads a French force against British.

Another word …

… Adduce | Word Genius.

Check out these books at your library …

 … Agatha Christie’s Top 10 Books, Ranked.

Something to think on …

To certain people there comes a day when they must say the great Yes or the great No.
— Constantine P. Cavafy, born on this date in 1863

On second thought …

… AI priest avatar gets the chop in first week of digital ministry - Catholic Herald. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.’ 

A word for today …

… Quark - Word Daily.

Let us pray

 … to the Little Flower — Miraculous Invocation to St. Therese.

Sunday, April 28, 2024

So much more than dots and dashes …

 … Belated birthday celebration for Samuel F. B. Morse.

Appalling …

… It Was Only a Matter of Time Before We Saw Something Like This at These Pro-Hamas Rallies.

Those of an age remember quite well who coined te phrase “final solution.’

A problem with stop signs and niceness …

It’s Not “Midwest Nice” to Break the Rules. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)

Cross-cultural influences

… A Past That Must Be Denied: Borges in Japan | Los Angeles Review of Books. (Hatip, Dave Lull.)

In case you wondered …

… Why College Degrees Are Losing Their Value.

I graduated from college in 1964, when fewer than 10 percent of the population had a bachelors degree. Today that number has increased to more that 50 percent. But many recent college graduates I have met fail to impress — such as the one who a few months ago interrupted a conversation I was having over a beer with an artist friend of mine to tell us that Hitler wasn’t a socialist. We weren’t talking about Hitler or socialism, but I turned to him and said, “Guess you don’t know German.” Then I told him that NAZI means Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei — National Socialist German Workers Party.
Of course, when I went to what is now St. Joseph’s University, it only cost $600 a year, which my family could afford. Now it’s about 50 grand. Hence, the student loan problem.

Historical moment …

 … Brilliant military officer makes important political decision.

Spy story …

… Paul Davis On Crime: Rook: A Look Back At A Vietnam Era Spy Sentenced In Philadelphia.

Something to think on …

I am convinced of the afterlife, independent of theology. If the world is rationally constructed, there must be an afterlife
— Kurt Gödel, born on this date in 1906

Sonnet …

 … Science! true daughter of Old Time thou art!

A word for today …

… Scintilla | Word Genius.

Let us pray …

 … to the Little Flower — Miraculous Invocation to St. Therese.

Saturday, April 27, 2024

Remembering …

 …and telling a truth

Expel them all …

… The extremist leaders of Columbia's anti-Israel protest camp.

After all, they alread think they know everything.

Choosing unknowing …

… Resisting our 'new dark age'. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)

I want to know less about the things that divide us and more about the things that unite us. Less about the scandalous and personal and more about the transcendent and universal.

Memory and heartache …

Zealotry of Guerin: Poetry and Fiction by Christopher Guerin: The House.

A poem for this morning …

 ~  Kjell Espmark —Route Tournante.

Journey by train …

  Rushing faster than memory through the rain

.

Another Word …

… Aplomb | Word Genius.

A word for today …

… Appurtenance - Word Daily.

Let us pray …

 … to the Little Flower  — Miraculous Invocation to St. Therese.

Friday, April 26, 2024

I fear so …

… Education Apocalypse Now? - by Glenn Harlan Reynolds.

RIP …

Helen Vendler, 'Colossus' of poetry criticism, dies at 90. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)

Hmm …

… Jesus is the minimum viable truth | WORLD. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)

Homesick …

… The Eyes of God. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)

A word for today …

… Rejoinder | Word Genius.

The search for peace …

 … I will arise and go now, and go to Innisfree.

Let us prat …

 … to the Little Flower —  Miraculous Invocation to St. Therese.

Something to think on …

The things you think about determine the quality of your mind. Your soul takes on the color of your thoughts.
— Marcus Aurelius, born on this date in 121